1944 dou

Towboater · Apr 22, 2021

Good morning everyone,

I just bought my very first K98 rifle last fall. I am really excited about it and I really like it. I joined this forum trying to learn more about these fine rifles. When I bought it, I was more or less unaware of all the fakes or turds or whatever you want to call them. I just assumed it was a legitimate matching numbers rifle.

Anyways, now I believe it is not a correct rifle because with the limited knowledge I have, I have not seen any
DOU 44 rifles with:
1. A blued butt plate
2. A stock without a bolt disassembly button thing in it
3. The safety lever has an electro-penciled “09” on it.

I have learned about the issue with the Mitchell’s rifles and thought it must just be one of those, but they all seem to have polished bolts, where mine is blued.

Could you gentlemen please help me learn more about my K98 please?

Towboater · Apr 22, 2021

Here are some images

Towboater · Apr 22, 2021

Tried to load more images in one post, but it said it was too large so I have to do multiple posts

Guillaume d'Orange · Apr 22, 2021

Hi Towboater,
Your comments are right. In addition to that, the rear sight base has e/359 stamps (Walther) seemingly and the serial numbers on the bolt and bolt sleeve looks like they were restamped.
Another hint is the color of the extractor which is usually plum, looks like the whole rifle was refinished (I don't mention the wood).
I'm afraid you have a mixmaster of some sort, which can be enjoyed for shooting.

Muncher 1953 · Apr 22, 2021

TB,
take a look at the photo reference section of the forum, & specifically dou marked rifles. the images will give you a point of reference for what “correct” looks like, as relates to your rifle. many subtle features to be looked at.....

mrfarb · Apr 22, 2021

Back up a second. You probably don’t have a fake, it looks more like a post war German rework of a ww2 rifle. These are collectible in their own right. Before you resign to the worst, let’s see better images of the barrel proofing etc. the ep’d numbers are typical w German work.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hambone · Apr 22, 2021

Welcome Towboater. What Farb said. The inspections on the barrel and receiver will tell us. Looks to me like a BGS or DDR / Vopo postwar German rework from what I see. Those are collectible in their own right. I'm somewhat looking for the right one myself. Post more pics.

Guillaume d'Orange · Apr 22, 2021

Where is sprat ? :laugh:

Browsed the archives, are we looking for sunburst stamps, peened eagles/swastikas, crowned U firing proof, etc. ?
I've said something silly in my previous comment : the extractor's color is plum on this rifle.

Towboater · Apr 22, 2021

Thanks for the info!

Towboater · Apr 22, 2021

Here is some kind of white paint the seller I bought it from temporarily put on some of the markings to get them to show up better. The paint has been removed before I bought it. Any other areas of the rifle to photograph?

Guillaume d'Orange · Apr 22, 2021

Towboater said:
Here is some kind of white paint the seller I bought it from temporarily put on some of the markings to get them to show up better. The paint has been removed before I bought it. Any other areas of the rifle to photograph?

The rifle in this thread:
https://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?22247-An-East-German-military-re-build
it has the same import mark than yours.

Towboater · Apr 22, 2021

Yes, very good find sir. I will be able to do more research. The seller did mention East German import markings.
Thank you

Towboater · Apr 22, 2021

I also now noticed after going to the picture reference page(WOW, amazing information collection), that there seem to be:

1. A lot of the waffenamt eagle markings(is that the correct term?) with a number under it are on the rifle, but most all the waffenamt eagle over swastica markings are missing. Looks to me like they were never there at all.

2. The safety tab shape on mine does not Mach the dou rifles, but does match the DDR rifles I saw. Those even had the same electro-penciling.

3. The butt plate does not match the dou rifles not just by the blueing, but mine looks “shrunk” and is smaller than the buttstock slightly.

This is all very intriguing & fun :thumbsup:

mto7464 · Apr 22, 2021

The stock is beefier, the buttplate is the same size. Some maker stocks were a little bigger, like the late C marked bcd stocks.

Nice find by the way.

Towboater · Apr 23, 2021

Oh ok, good to know that is what the case is about the stock. I did also find out that the hole in the buttplate towards the bottom replaces the take down button in the stock from what I’ve been researching. Still very interesting.

Herk1994 · Apr 23, 2021

Towboater said:
Oh ok, good to know that is what the case is about the stock. I did also find out that the hole in the buttplate towards the bottom replaces the take down button in the stock from what I’ve been researching. Still very interesting.

Precisely, the takedown disc was another late war omission in the interest of saving time in manufacturing.

Much easier to drill a hole through the stock and cupped plate and call it good. Identical in function but not as classy as the disc IMO.

Towboater · Apr 23, 2021

Definitely not as classy for sure! That would probably be the only thing my rifle is missing that would make it even cooler than it already is.

1944 dou

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